Starbreeze has cancelled its Dungeons & Dragons game Project Baxter, is laying off 44 staff, and is refocusing resources on the Payday franchise. Key facts and sources inside.
The struggling Swedish developer Starbreeze Studios is ceasing work on its anticipated Dungeons & Dragons game, known as Project Baxter, and will lay off approximately 44 staff members and contractors as it shifts attention to its prized Payday series. The move, disclosed in early October 2025, is the result of a strategic review of its projects and finances.
Here’s a straightforwardly sourced account of what happened, why Starbreeze made the decision, and what it means for the studio, its employees, and players.
What Starbreeze announced (the facts)?
Starbreeze will stop working on Project Baxter, the announced co-op Dungeons & Dragons game it unveiled in 2023 and tentatively planned to release around 2026.
As part of the re-alignment, about 44 people, a combination of full-time employees and contractors, will be laid off at the studio.
The cancellation will result in a major non-cash write-down (as reported by some sources, around SEK 255 million or $27 million), which represents an irrecoverable dev investment.
Here is the key, confirmed facts as we know them and from industry coverage.
Why the studio decided?
Starbreeze executives said the shuffle is part of a strategy to ‘Double down’ on Payday in order to pump up content, tighten up monetisation systems, and shore up the company’s own finances. CEO Adolf Kristjansson said Payday as the studio’s best bet for long-term value and more immediate returns, saying limited resources must be spent where they will have the greatest effect.
A combination of factors likely fed into the choice:
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Financial pressure and risk management: Large licensed IP projects (like a D&D co-op game) require substantial ongoing investment — a risky bet when cash flow needs tightening. Industry reporting confirms the cancelation and the resulting write-down.
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Payday’s priority: After Payday 3’s rocky launch and the studio’s recent leadership and staffing turbulence, management is prioritising its most established franchise to rebuild revenue and player engagement. Historical context on Payday 3’s struggles and prior restructurings helps explain this pivot.
The human cost — and how Starbreeze frames it
The layoffs affect around 44 people — both contractors and employees — though Starbreeze says some Baxter team members will be offered roles on other projects (primarily Payday-related work). The company also emphasised that this was a “difficult” decision made to preserve longer-term viability.
Industry trackers and analysts view the move as part of wider consolidation and belt-tightening across gaming in 2025, where many studios have cut staff or cancelled projects to stabilize finances amid higher development costs.
What this means for Project Baxter and the D&D license
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Project Baxter is cancel: The title is not being handed off; Starbreeze is stopping active development. That effectively ends the studio’s D&D ambitions — at least for now.
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Wizards of the Coast relationship: Starbreeze thanked Wizards of the Coast in its communications; the publisher/owner of D&D may now look for different partners should it still want a co-op digital title. No transfer or new publisher has been announced.
What this means for Payday and Starbreeze’s future
Starbreeze promises to accelerate Payday content and focus teams on ongoing live-service support and new content pipelines. The bet is straightforward: invest in the known franchise with an existing player base rather than continue a costly, riskier new-IP/licensed project.
If successful, this could stabilize Starbreeze’s finances and restore investor confidence; if Payday fails to rebound commercially, the company’s options may remain constrained. The write-down and layoffs are intended to make the studio cash-flow positive in 2026, the company says.
2024–2025 saw a string of studio restructures and project cancellations industrywide as development costs rose and players’ attention fragmented across live services and platforms. Starbreeze’s move is high-profile because Project Baxter carried a major license (D&D) and because Payday is one of the studio’s best-known franchises. Analysts are watching whether focusing on Payday yields the revenue improvements Starbreeze needs.